Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-01

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below shows the number of tourists visiting a particular Caribbean island between 2010 and 2017.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The chart illustrates the number of visitors exploring a particular Caribbean island between 2010 and 2017.

Overall, it seems clear that the pattern of total tourists demonstrated a dramatic increase during the period. Moreover, the visitors staying on the island, experienced few fluctuations at the end of the year. Along the way, the trend of visitors staying on cruise ships started with a slight decrease, however, ending with a gradual increase.

To begin with, there are approximately 1 million visitors, who visited the whole island. The pattern climbed slightly every year, and showed a remarkable change at around 2.5 million, in 2014. Then, it suddenly grew to 3.5 million visitors, at the end of the year. Moreover, the figure of visitors staying on the island, remained lower than 1 million, in 2010 before sharply rose to around 1.5 million, in 2013, and remained unchanged over the year.

Furthermore, the trend of tourists staying on cruise ships, showed a relatively small number in 2010, then slightly went to around 0.5 million, in 2011. The dotted line fluctuated during the cycle and eventually, rose to a peak of 2 million, before ending the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons across the period. For instance, the overview successfully captures the overall upward trend in total visitors and touches upon the distinct trajectories of the two visitor sub-categories. However, some ideas and data points are under-developed or imprecise. For example, stating that the total pattern climbed and showed a remarkable change at around 2.5 million in 2014 overlooks finer details, and the description of the island-staying visitors contains inaccuracies regarding the end of the period, as the data shows fluctuations down to 1.25 million in 2016 before rising to 1.5 million in 2017. To achieve a higher band, the report would need to provide a more consistently accurate and fully extended account of all data sets without misinterpreting specific yearly figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The text presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and detailed body paragraphs. Logical progression is generally maintained through sequencing phrases such as 'To begin with' and 'Furthermore'. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty, particularly with referencing and transitional expressions. For example, phrasing like 'at the end of the year' and 'during the cycle' feels slightly repetitive or imprecise when applied to a multi-year timeline. Additionally, pronoun and demonstrative referencing can be awkward, as seen in 'The dotted line fluctuated'. To move to the next level, the use of cohesive devices needs to be more flexible and natural, ensuring that information flows smoothly from sentence to sentence without repetitive transitional markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'fluctuations', 'remarkable change', and 'gradual increase'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and collocation that prevent a higher score. For instance, writing 'visitors staying on the island, experienced few fluctuations at the end of the year' misuses 'few' (implying almost none, whereas the chart shows changes) and misapplies temporal phrasing. There are also occasional awkward phrasings like 'slightly went to around 0.5 million'. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider and more precise range of vocabulary with greater control over collocations and stylistic appropriateness for academic data reporting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at varied structures such as relative clauses ('visitors, who visited the whole island') and participial phrases. However, there are some errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text that hold the score at this level. Unnecessary commas disrupt the flow of sentences, as seen in 'visitors staying on the island, remained lower' and 'trend of tourists staying on cruise ships, showed'. There are also tense and verb form inconsistencies, such as 'before sharply rose' instead of 'before sharply rising'. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, achieving a higher band would require a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences and more precise punctuation control.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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